Shapes, a social messaging startup, has emerged from stealth with $8 million in seed funding to develop a platform where humans and AI characters interact within shared group conversations.
According to TechCrunch, the app functions similarly to Discord but integrates AI characters, known as "Shapes," directly into group members' group chats. The company was founded in 2022 by Anushk Mittal and Noorie Dhingra.
Currently, the app reports more than 400,000 monthly active users. Users can create their own AI personalities and add them to chats; the company states that users have already created three million individual Shapes.
Reducing AI isolation
The founders aim to mitigate the risks associated with "AI Psychosis," a term referring to delusions or paranoia caused by prolonged, isolated interactions with AI chatbots.
Shapes positions itself as a social alternative to one-on-one AI companionship. By placing AI within existing human social circles, the platform keeps the technology grounded in real-world interaction.
“Today, all of our conversations with AI are very private and one-on-one, but that’s not really how humans collaborate and communicate with each other,” Shapes CEO Anushk Mittal told TechCrunch.
“Our lives run on group chats. That’s where we spend all of our time. That’s where we talk and communicate with eacher. It’s just natural to bring in AI into those same conversations where AI has all of the context and is readily available to help you,” Mittal added.
While AI characters can interact freely, the app clearly labels them as "Shapes" to ensure transparency between human and bot users. Much of the current user activity is driven by fandoms using the tool to explore subcultures.
Upon signing up, new users select specific interests, allowing the app to recommend relevant group chats for them to join.
